Haven't Paid A Ticket? You May Get A Call

Orange County Is Hiring A Debt Collection Agency To Go After $23.4 Million In Unpaid Traffic And Court Fines.

October 27, 1997|By Cory Lancaster of The Sentinel Staff

A debt collector soon will start hounding people who haven't paid their traffic and court fines, sticking Orange County for a total of $23.4 million.

County officials think they stand a good chance of recovering some money from the 110,086 bills - dating to 1989 - by hiring a collection agency.

County commissioners are expected to award the contract by early December. The agency then would start tracking down people nationwide, sending them at least three bills and then using a telephone campaign to get money.

''The county is just getting aggressive on collecting these outstanding amounts,'' said Pat Bythwood with the county's budget office. ''We decided it's time to do something about this.''

Twenty collection agencies applied for the job this month, and the winner would receive a percentage of what it collects, ranging from 10 percent to 33 percent, according to the proposals.

The county clerk of the court usually collects fines for speeding and traffic infractions, misdemeanor crimes, such as driving under the influence of alcohol, and court costs.

Violators face punishments for failing to pay, such as having their drivers licenses suspended for not paying traffic fines. That motivates most people to comply, but 63,675 traffic tickets have gone unpaid in the past eight years.

''It's always been the posture of the clerk's office in the past that we weren't a collection agency,'' said Charlotte Benson, chief deputy clerk in Orlando.

This will be the first time Orange County hires a collection agency to recover fines. Other governments, such as Orlando and Broward County, have turned to collection agencies to get people to pay fines.

Bythwood said the county will focus only on the unpaid fines since 1989.

''The older you go back, the less likelihood you can collect,'' she added.

Depending on the success of the effort, Orange County also may go after unpaid felony fines.

Benson said she didn't know how much in unpaid felony fines could be turned over to a collection agency. The clerk's office is working on a computer program to provide a list of people with outstanding fines who are not in jail or prison. The list will be available by the end of the year.

''It doesn't make any sense to turn a case over if the person is sentenced to county jail or state prison,'' Benson said.